


To Be Unbroken or Be Brave

by Thebonemoose



Series: Magnus and Lukas (beans and books, babey!) [3]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Gen, coffee shop/bookstore au, no beta we die like archive assistants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23641957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thebonemoose/pseuds/Thebonemoose
Summary: Sasha and Tim hatch a plan.
Relationships: Annabelle Cane & Nikola Orsinov, Martin Blackwood & Sasha James, Sasha James & Tim Stoker
Series: Magnus and Lukas (beans and books, babey!) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688632
Comments: 34
Kudos: 216





	To Be Unbroken or Be Brave

**Author's Note:**

> title is from to noise making, by hozier. As usual, it has no real bearing on the story, it's just a good song.  
> also if this is your first time reading a fic in this series, you should probably start from the beginning, or else this won't make much sense. 
> 
> anyways please enjoy!

It was not a busy day. 

Truthfully, there were no busy days, because Peter Lukas was an antisocial mist of a man, and designed a bookstore that reflected that. 

Sasha didn’t mind, honestly. She liked being around people, sure, but she also enjoyed her solitude. Her mum always called her ‘flexible’; easy to get along with. 

It was sort of true. Really, she just didn’t have very many strong feelings about most things. 

But her mum could think what she liked. 

“Sorry Martin, what were you saying? I zoned out a bit,” she said apologetically, and Martin waved it away.

“It’s fine. I was just asking if you were going to be fine here on your own? If I do transfer, I mean.” Martin continued unpacking a box of books.

Sasha shrugged. “I haven’t complained so far, have I? I love having you around, Martin, but this place doesn’t need many employees. It runs itself, really.”

Martin cocked his head. “Yeah, you’re right.” He looked down, his brows furrowed. 

Sasha swallowed. “Still,” she began. “I’ll miss you. Kind of hard to gossip when you’re on your own,” she joked.

Martin beamed. God, he was good. She really would miss him, even though he’d only be a few meters away. 

“Hey, how was it with Tim? Did he bug you too much?” Martin had a funny little pleased half-smile on his face. 

She shrugged and made a vague hand motion in the air. “Eh, it was alright. He’s a terrible worker. I assume his looks make him a better barista than they do book… unpacker.”

“Sure, I sup-- wait, what do you mean ‘his looks’?” Martin asked, looking up at her with one raised eyebrow. 

Sasha huffed. “Martin, come on. You have eyes, _and_ you like men. Tim is like some sort of stupid, ripped Adonis.”

Martin’s eyes widened. “Sasha, do you-- do you _like_ Tim?”

She snorted. “Romantically? No. I don’t hate looking at him, though, if I’m honest.”

Martin chuckled, and looked at her funny. “Fair enough.”

“What about you, Martin? Do you have any special someones?” Sasha looked up at him with a small smile, not expecting much of a reaction. 

But blessed Martin immediately turned beet red, and Sasha felt a sadistic glee take hold of her. Oh, she _had_ to know more. 

Her eyes widened, and she leaned forwards. “Oh my god, you do! Who is it? Please tell me? Come on Martin, peer pressure!”

Martin mumbled something, his gaze down-turned. 

She furrowed her brows. “What?”

He groaned and looked at her sheepishly. “I said it’s… it’s Jon.”

Sasha short-circuited. “J-Jon? Jon Sims? Our coworker? Technically our boss, Jon Sims?”

Martin grimaced and nodded, still a bright pink. He played with the fingernails of his left hand. 

Sasha pursed her lips, and pressed her palms flat together. She was trying to figure out a way to put it delicately. 

“Um… Don’t take this the wrong way.... But _why_?” 

Martin threw his head back, frustrated. “I don’t know! I didn’t exactly choose this, you know!” He snapped, and Sasha leaned away.

“Whoa, Martin, what’s going on?” She held her hands out placatingly. 

Martin sighed and scrubbed his face with a hand. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just… I don’t even know why, you know? Like, yeah, he’s hot,--”

“In a rat kinda way, sure,” Sasha muttered to herself.

“What?”

She shook her head. “Nothing, carry on.”

“Yeah, he’s hot, and good at his job, but he’s a huge prick. He’s so, so-- rude!”

Saha nodded wordlessly. It wasn’t like Martin was wrong. Jon was a prick, and that was the opinion of people who liked him. Who knew what people who hated him thought.

“I mean, Tim is his closest work friend, and Jon still never admits he even likes him! How could I possibly have a crush on a person like that? Me, Martin Blackwood, AKA Teddy-Bear McGee!”

Sasha grimaced. “I… really don’t know, Martin. Sorry, though.”

Martin sighed. “Thanks. It’s fine, I’ll just ignore it until it goes away.”

“And… Has that worked in the past?” Sasha bit her lip. 

Martin shook his head miserably. She reached over to pat his shoulder. 

“Well, look-- it seems like this topic is making you a bit-- erm, let’s say ‘ _stressy_ ,’ so why don’t we talk about something else while we finish unpacking, and then you take a break?” Sasha suggested, and Martin just nodded gratefully. He latched on eagerly to the subject change, and began talking enthusiastically about spiders.

It was very adorable, and Sasha had an extreme fondness for Martin, and, to a _far_ lesser extent, spiders.

The next day, Sasha found herself whispering furiously at a preoccupied Tim. She was halfway hiding behind a bookstack, and Tim was chatting with his brother in the coffee shop. He waved goodbye as his brother left, and then pivoted on his heel and leveled Sasha with a look.

He speedwalked towards her, and Sasha hid fully behind the bookstack. “Sasha Rupert James! What the hell are you doing?!”

She furrowed her brows. “That-- Tim, that’s not my middle name.”

Tim just rolled his eyes and huffed. “I improvised, leave me alone. What the hell are you doing?”

“I needed to speak with you!”

“You couldn’t have just approached me like a regular human?” He was now whispering furiously back at her. 

“No, I’m hiding.”

“From?” 

“Jon and/or Martin.”

This piqued his interest. 

He stepped back and raised his eyebrow. “Oh? What would be your reasons for that, esteemed madam?” He put a hand on his hip.

Sasha held back a smirk. “I think we should set them up.”’

Tim scoffed. “Like, romantically? That’s hilarious. Goodbye, Sash.”

She held out her hands, desperate to keep him from leaving before she could complete her pitch. “No, Tim! Just listen, alright! I have-- _reason_ to believe that one of them may have feelings for the other.”

“Okay, so? Martin’s crush on Jon is super obvious to everyone except Jon.” 

Tim was clearly not picking up what she was putting down, but it was fine. 

Sasha sighed, and clarified. “I was trying to be covert and respect Martin’s privacy, but fine. Yes. He’s hopeless, and Jon is almost definitely not good enough for Martin-”

“100% he isn’t good enough. I love Jon, but I would die and kill for Martin Blackwood,” Tim stated matter-of-factly. 

Sasha quirked her head. “Same, but that’s not the point. The point is, I believe in Jon’s ability to be _not-a-prick_ on occasion, and I think if he spends like, thirty minutes chatting amicably with Martin he will fall hopelessly in love with him.”

Tim stared at her with a calculating look, his eyes narrowed. “Alright, I’m in. Except-- hold on. I know some people who would want to help. Meet you back here in twenty minutes, alright?” Then Tim darted away.

“Tim! Wait!” She called, and he flashed her a goofy smile over his shoulder as he tried to execute some insane mixture of a crouch and a run all the way across the coffee shop. She sighed, and walked out from behind the bookstack. 

Approximately twenty minutes later, Tim walked back triumphantly, and trailing behind him was a group of six people.

He grinned brightly at her, and gestured to the line of assorted persons at his rear. “Hello, Sasha. I’m back, and I’ve brought guests.”

“What is this about?” asked a Asian woman, her hair shaved, and her expression sour. 

“All will become clear very soon, Jude,” Tim replied, his smile still perfectly in place. 

Gerry was also one of the people, and he looked vaguely disinterested; the way he always did, Sasha figured. She really didn’t know him very well, but Tim did, evidently. 

“Explain now, or Agnes and I are leaving,” Jude replied, her arms crossed. Clearly, not one of Tim’s close pals. 

“Well, that’s rude, what if Agnes doesn’t want to leave?” Tim asked.

An even-toned voice piped up from behind Jude. “Agnes will do what Jude says,” said a woman with red hair, presumably the Agnes in question.

Tim rolled his eyes. “Fine, I brought you here to help Sasha and I set up Martin and Jon.”

Gerry shrugged. “I’m in,” he said, and walked away without another word. 

Sasha watched him go with her brows furrowed. 

“I have no idea who any of those people are,” Agnes said blandly, a vacantly pleasant expression on her face. Jude grabbed her hand. 

“Agnes and I are leaving,” she said, and they walked out, as well. 

Tim blew out a breath and put his hands on his hips. “Well, alright then. Definite yes from Gerry, at least. What about you, Jane?”

A quiet woman in a dark hoodie looked up. She was pale, and had dark, messy hair. “Hm. This is for Martin, you say? I like Martin. Maybe,” she said, vaguely, and Sasha thought she saw an ant crawl across the woman’s cheek. Jane then seemed to become very preoccupied with a small beetle walking along the bookshelf, and she went to chase it.

“Splendid, I am going to go ahead and count that as a yes. Annabelle, please tell me you’re in,” he pleaded, turning to a black woman with platinum hair.

The woman smirked, and made a big show of thinking it over, and finally when Tim was practically vibrating with impatience, she smiled and said, “Well, alright. You’d be lost without me, anyways.” She took a sip of her drink. 

Tim sighed in relief, then sobered, and turned to the woman beside Annabelle. “Nikola, I hate you. I genuinely hate you more than I have ever hated any living person in my life. Are you going to help?”

Nikola tittered, and took Annabelle’s arm. Based on Tim’s preface, Sasha decided she would dislike this person, too. Besides, something about her felt weird, like her face wasn’t her _real_ face. Not like a mask, though-- or at least, not a literal mask. No, Sasha preferred people she could count on not to be secretly… made of plastic, or something. 

“Alright, Tim! No need to be rude, now is there? I will help, but only because I think Martin and Jon will be a very entertaining show. Not because I care about anything you have done, are doing, or will ever do in your miserable life, Timothy Stoker.” Nikola smiled a wide cheerful thing that split her face, and Sasha had to suppress the urge to shudder. 

Apparently, the patrons of the coffee shop were much, _much_ stranger than the patrons of the bookstore. 

Nikola and Annabelle turned and left just like all the rest, and Sasha looked at Tim with her eyebrows raised. 

“You keep strange company, Stoker.”

Tim sighed and rubbed his neck. “It’s not voluntary, but that’s still a fair assessment. But anyways, we have more important things to discuss! Namely, what is our cool code name?”

Sasha laughed. “Our what? Tim, are you twelve years old?”

“Yes. My vote is ‘Operation Teddy Bear Prick!’” He grinned, looking at her expectantly.

Sasha let out a disbelieving chuckle.

“Tim, you-- you do realize how that sounds, right?”

Tim furrowed his brows. “Teddy Bear Prick? Because Martin is a teddy bear, and Jon is a prick, so together they’re Teddy Bear Pr- mm, nope. I hear it now. That’s no good,” he grimaced. 

Sasha chuckled under her breath. “Okay, how about ‘Sweater… Nerd?’”

“Sweater being Martin, nerd being Jon?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I like Sweater. What about Operation Sweater Bitch?”

“Sweaterbitch? But what about Jon?”

“No, Jon is Bitch, Martin is still Sweater.”

“Oh. Erm… let’s workshop it.

“Ugh, fine.” Tim glanced down at his watch, and grimaced. “Speaking of Bitch, I’m late, and he will most certainly be petty about it. I should go.”

“Lucky me, I get Sweaterboy today,” she laughed, and Tim shook his head with a chuckle.

“See you later, Sash.”

“Bye, Tim,” Sasha said with a small grin. 

Well, one thing was for certain. No matter the outcome re: Operation SweaterBitch, at least it would be fun, especially if Tim was involved. 

[Unknown Number]: Tim, we need to talk about Jon and Martin. 

[Unknown Number]: I have a plan. 

Tim: Who is this????

[Unknown Number]: It’s Annabelle, keep up. 

Tim: Annabelle????

Tim: How the fuck did you get my number?

[Unknown Number:] Not relevant.

[Unknown Number]: What IS relevant is my plan. Are you ready to listen, or are you going to continue asking stupid questions?

Tim: Fine. Go ahead

[Unknown Number]: We need to force Martin and Jon to spend more time together. Obviously, work is the best place for that.

Tim: Obviously.

[Unknown Number]: Don’t interrupt. 

[Unknown Number]: I will talk to Elias and convince him to have James switch your schedule with Martin’s. 

Tim: Why not just go directly to James?

[Unknown Number]: Biggest payoff for the least amount of work. Elias is a fool, but he’s a fool that James listens to.

Tim: Makes sense. What’s the next move?

[Unknown Number]: All in good time, Timothy. We’re playing the long game, here. 

Tim: hmmmm ok. That’s pretty weird, and also it’s like 1am so I am going to sleep. 

Tim: um. Goodnight? I guess?

[Read 1:12 AM]

“Elias,” Annabelle said evenly, her face a pleasant but blank mask. She stood from her seat beside the dusty broom closet that Elias used as an office. 

Elias turned halfway out of his office, eyebrows raised. “Oh! Hello, Annabelle. Can I-- uh, can I help you?”

She smiled at this. “Yes, as a matter of fact. I wanted to talk with you about your employees.”

Elias gulped and shifted. “My… employees?”  
Annabelle nodded. “Yes. I think they’re all wonderful.”

Elias let out an audible sigh of relief. 

“I wanted to make sure you knew that they do such tremendous work, and that they all work astonishingly well together.”

“Oh, well, I’m sure--”

Annabelle continued as if she hadn’t heard him. “Sasha and Tim are just a dream team; I’ve never seen a more efficient book-unpacking duo,” she said, her voice dripping with honey. “And don’t even get me started on Jon and Martin in the coffee shop. It’s a shame they don’t work together full time, with their chemistry I wouldn’t be surprised if they became...involved,” she remarked smugly. 

Elias furrowed his brows, evidently thinking on what Annabelle had said. 

“Well, I suppose that’s all. I just thought you’d want to know how well your employees work together.” Annabelle grinned, then turned on her heel and walked away, leaving Elias still frowning thoughtfully at the space she once occupied. 

Annabelle pulled her phone from her purse and sent Tim a text. By her estimate, Jon and Martin should be on their way to friendship very, very soon. 

“James, do I really have to wear this?” Elias asked, fiddling with the tie around his throat. 

James looked up, one eye-brow raised. “Is it casual Friday?”

Elias sighed. “No.”

“Then yes, you have to wear it. You know Jonah’s rule,” James replied. 

Elias frowned. “Fine. Anyways, I have to talk to you about something.”

James motioned for Elias to have a seat at the chair in front of his desk, and Elias did. 

“I think we should switch Tim and Martin.”

“What do you mean?”

“Pair Tim and Sasha up in the bookstore, and pair Jon and Martin up in the coffeeshop,” Elias clarified.

“Hmm. Alright,” James said, turning his attention back to his computer screen. 

“Wh- That’s it? You’re signing off on it just like that?”

James shrugged. “Those four work well together, any configuration would work fine.”

“Well… Okay? So you’ll switch the schedules?”

James nodded. “As soon as Peter signs off on it,” he said.

“Right, Peter. I’ll… be sure to inform him,” Elias said, though his voice was tinged with irritation at the thought of having to compose an email.

James just nodded again, and Elias showed himself out. 

“Really? Just like that?” Tim asked in disbelief. 

Annabelle nodded and sipped her coffee. “Elias has sent an email to Peter Lukas, requesting his approval for the schedule change. Peter hasn’t read it yet, he only checks his email after three.”

Tim frowned. “How do you know all that?”

Annabelle met his eyes, her gaze intense. “Not. Relevant.”

Nikola giggled-- a shrill, high sound-- and leaned into Annabelle’s space, who just smirked slightly. 

Tim caught Sasha’s eye from her spot beside him, and she didn’t have to open her mouth to convey meaning, because they were both thinking the same thing. 

Nikola was a terrifying freak, and Annabelle was a terrifying genius. 

“Okay!” Sasha clapped her hands together, immediately drawing the three sets of eyes towards her. “So, we need to convince Peter Lukas to sign off on this. How do we do that, any ideas?”

Tim chuckled. “Oh, I can handle that. And you all,” he said, pointing to the table at large, “Are welcome to watch.”

“Ew, Tim. Why did you make that sound so sexual?” Sasha grimaced. 

“That was unintentional. I just meant I have a plan, and no, it does not involve an attempt to seduce Peter Lukas.”

“Are you sure? It’s right in your skill set.”

“Fair, but yes, I’m sure.” Tim glanced back towards Peter’s office, located on the upper level of the bookstore, and saw the man in question open his office door and step out, shrouded in a cloak that was probably fairly warm for the indoors. “Oh, shit, there he is! Alright, it’s go time, ladies,” Tim said, and stood, unbuttoning the top button of his shirt and running his hand through his hair. 

“Tim, oh my god!”

“It’s a confidence thing, shut up!” Tim stalked over to the stairs and ascended quickly, and saw the exact moment that Peter noticed Tim’s rapid approach and began looking for an exit strategy.

Unfortunately for him, Tim was faster. “Hi!” he nearly shouted, and Peter’s face instantly melted into one of awkward displeasure. 

Peter cleared his throat. “Hello,” he said simply. 

“Isn’t it a lovely day? Such a great day to go be outside in the sunshine, around tons of people, just enjoying the noise and bustle and all the shoving that tends to happen in crowds. Oh my god, do you like ice cream? You should join me and thirty of my closest friends for ice cream later! We’re all extroverts, so things can get kind of loud, but the more the merrier, am I right?” Tim grinned and began nudging Peter with his elbow.

Peter began to frown, and continued looking for some way to escape the conversation. 

_‘Oh, no you don’t,’_ Tim thought, and he plastered on a smile that was somehow even more cheery than the last. “Hey do you like organized religion? You should come to my CHURCH! We love to go to public places and talk to strangers about uncomfortably deep topics!”

“Oh my god, what do you want?” Peter sighed, and Tim felt triumph swell in his chest. 

“I want you to give the OK for Martin and I to switch jobs,” Tim stated, dropping the cheerful act.

“You want to work for me?!”

“I won’t bother you if you say yes. If you say no, however, I plan to spend every single one of my breaks eating corn crisps very loudly right outside of your office door.”

Peter exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, whatever. Just… for the love of god, leave me alone,” he begged.

“Anything you want, Lukas, just give the OK.”

“I want you out of my sight.”

“You got it,” Tim paused dramatically, “Boss!” he said with a wink. 

Peter shook his head tiredly and went back into his office. 

Tim grinned, then confidently walked across the two shops to where Sasha, Nikola, and Annabelle still sat. Sasha had her eyebrows raised, _clearly_ trying to hide how impressed she was.

“Nicely done, Timothy,” Annabelle said, and Tim bowed theatrically. 

“Your form is all wrong,” Nikola said once he had straightened. Tim did not deign to respond, and instead relished in the fact that everything was happening according to plan.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and Kudos are always appreciated, and I should hopefully have the next one up before the 20th? I guess we'll see :0
> 
> As always, the idea for the series comes from a tma discord server I'm in, so a large portion of the planning is thanks to the kind folks over there. You guys water my crops :'')


End file.
